Happy Birthday To Me

I know nobody reads my blog except for a couple of family members so I don't think my sister will mind me sharing an excerpt from what she wrote on my birthday card:

Rest assured that I will be remembering the day I danced a jig around Dad because he wanted a boy and I got the sister I had been waiting so long for. And then he bought me a strawberry milkshake. A special day indeed!

So blame her that this vegan-ish person decided to see what a strawberry shake tastes like! Believe it or not I've never had a strawberry shake and as good as it was it's not something I'd need to have again. I promise you that in this day of Supersize Me my 'small' shake was larger than anything my dad could possibly have bought my sister 28 years ago on the date of my birth!


And sis, don't feel guilty if you ended up being happier about the shake than the red squalling baby you were about to share everything with... your bedroom, your make-up, your bubble gum...

Saturday Bike Ride

We don't have the good bike trails here that Martha and Ken have in Illinois, so each time we decide to ride bikes the question is "Where?" Yesterday we checked out Tech Park which lies between York Technical College and the tech businesses in Industrial Park. It's a nice park with a broad walkway and pond for duck lovers, but as a bike path we gave it mixed reviews.

I've realized, and Saeed has said as much, that for him what's important is "getting somewhere." He doesn't like going around in circles no matter how pretty the scenery. For me the issue is my surroundings, so going around in circles (as long as they're big circles) is OK if I'm surrounded by the beauty of nature. So as a bike route Tech Park got a thumbs up from me and I imagine a thumbs down from Saeed.

Mr. Gotta Get Somewhere

This little creek is below the bridge Saeed is on in the above pic. Beautiful.

The Canadian Geese were loud and busy. Must be mating season..

This guy has been watching Big Love.

Some kind of heron.

Turtles were out by the dozens sunning themselves in groups.

Eastern redbud.

I promise, I didn't just take pictures, I rode my bike too. :-)

Big Love

Saeed and I are watching the last season (5) of Big Love, an HBO series that ended in 2010. Just like when we were watching the Sopranos a few years ago we race home from work, scoop litter, fix something to eat, and then run to the living room to pop in the Netflix DVD for the next episode. This may be part of the reason I haven't been blogging, sorry! We made Tita watch the two episodes that begin season 5 when she was here recently. Here's a sample of seasons 1-4:

Great Big Beautiful Owl

I went out my door this morning and disturbed this big beautiful owl. It was down in the leaves, probably about to nab a mouse, when it heard me and flew up to the tree branch. Those big round eyes kept watching me as I spoke to it and eventually walked to my car. I love these brushes with wild animals. After reading Wesley The Owl and watching an owl box of babies for a whole summer I know how unique owls are in their functioning and manner. SO fascinating and SO beautiful.

 BARRED OWL

And The Fast Begins

Just close your eyes and listen... so beautiful, so soothing.

February 29th

It must be odd to be a day
that folks forget is there.
It disappears three out of four
and no one seems to care.

Rossini, Shore, and Dorsey
all felt the timely beat
of birthdays spread like quarter notes
but age they could not cheat.

Feline Meditation

I caught Obi meditating on the steam from my pot of oatmeal this morning. I'm not kidding. He was seriously watching that steam for several minutes.

Another One Bites The Dust!

Another petition success close on the heels of the last one! The Humane Society’s petition to remove whale products from Amazon did result in gathering tens of thousands of signatures. Also many emails were sent directly to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. Full story in the link:

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/whale-products-removed-from-amazon-com.html#ixzz1nUcZyB6A

Nightwoods

I recently finished this for my March book club meeting. After reading Gilead which had no plot but endless profound thinking on the part of the main character which required slow reading, Nightwoods was a fast read. Though the story was interesting and nail-biting at times it wasn't the quality writing I expected. Frazier's Cold Mountain got such good reviews I think I expected something very special, and perhaps after reading Gilead anything I read next would have paled in comparison.

For a summary and review of the novel click here for the NY Times reviewers article. The main character Luce, who we are supposed to care about the most and for the most part I did, could have been developed much better. And the disturbing events that occur to the characters in this novel, murder and abuse and more, make it tough on the psyche. There is a constant hovering of darkness and fear as the plot progresses.

I still plan to read Cold Mountain which is on my shelf. It sounds like it may be Frazier's better book.

Sporadic Successes Of A Couch Potato Activist

I consider myself an activist of sorts, but barely. Most of my activity is in the form of financial contributions, online petitions and letters. I guess I'm a couch potato activist! Even that is better than nothing though, right?

Yes, apparently it is. From time to time I receive feedback from petitions I've signed or letters I've written to say that the campaign was successful. For example there was a recent petition to prevent the "high-diving horse" act to make a reappearance in Atlantic City. In an AP article on Feb. 15th Wayne Parry wrote,

"The Diving Horse has finally been put out to pasture for good.
The owner of Atlantic City's Steel Pier says he's dropping a plan to bring back the legendary attraction, which featured a horse and a rider plunging into a 12-foot-deep water tank from a platform 40 feet in the air, after animal-welfare activists lodged fierce criticism."

Yay animal-welfare activists! Have you ever seen the act? It boggles my mind:

I'm sure some of you are saying, "But look, there's a person doing it!" The person chose to do that stunt. The horse didn't have the option of saying, "Um, I don't think so, but thanks anyway!"

So I'm happy that in my own little way I'm helping to make some changes in the issues I care about. One voice gets ignored, but when over 50,000 people sign a petition the message gets across very nicely.